8-Year-Old Student Tops Global Chess Rankings, Emerges as First Female Chess Master

 8-year-old student, Bodhana Sivanandan has set a new record for the highest rating for a player under 9 in the world. She achieved this feat by scoring 2088 points in the Cambridge International Open Chess Tournament.

The young prodigy faced off against 30-year-old opponent Samuel Gaffney in the final match of the 2024 Cambridge International Open, organized by the English Chess Federation. Displaying exceptional skills and strategic prowess, Bodhana emerged victorious, solidifying her position as the tournament champion.

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At the end of the competition, Bodhana had a FIDE rating (International Chess Federation rating) of 2088, a figure generated by a complex scoring algorithm that ranks the world’s top chess players. This rating is the highest ever for a player under 9.

Additionally, she was the only girl in the top 10, the highest-rated 8-year-old girl in the history of chess, and the third highest-rated player of any gender at that age.

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Expressing confidence in Bodhana's future in the world of chess, Malcolm Pein, the director of international chess at the English Chess Federation and an international chess master, lauded her potential, stating, "stating, “I believe Bodhana has a chance to be the greatest women’s chess player of all time.”

Bodhana shared that her introduction to chess was a happy coincidence, stemming from a family friend gifting her a chessboard. “I really liked the pieces, especially the knight and the queen, and I wanted to use them as toys. But, my dad told me that I couldn’t because then the next person who got it couldn’t play. So instead, I just started playing,” she said.

Source: Chess.com